Nicolas Guéguen has had a prolific scientific career. From bust size and hitchhiking to bust size and courtship solicitation, his topics are…well, not very wide-ranging. But they’re important questions that need to be asked. Here, he tackles a particularly difficult topic (albeit one unrelated to bust size): does complimenting a woman really make her more likely to accept a date request? The answer might surprise you (but probably won’t).

Compliments and receptivity to a courtship request: a field experiment.

“160 young women were solicited in the street to have a drink with a young male confederate. In the ingratiation condition, the solicitor complimented the woman regarding her physical appearance before making the request, while in the no-compliment condition, the confederate asked his request directly.

Results showed that complimenting was associated with greater compliance to the request.”

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